


Bound In Frustration Part 1

by Lost_in_Labradorite_halls



Series: Bound In Frustration [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Racism, Swearing, Torture, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27975570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lost_in_Labradorite_halls/pseuds/Lost_in_Labradorite_halls
Summary: Loki survived the wrath of Thanos. Years later he is working with Skrull intelligence to bring down a Skrull terrorist. Loki's small team consists of another Skrull, Ju'rrean and a pathetic human who is completely worthless and helpless.
Series: Bound In Frustration [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048968
Kudos: 2





	Bound In Frustration Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello folks, this is born of another Loki dream that I had. So I hope you enjoy this piece from Loki's perspective. This is the first in a 3 part series. So keep a look out for the sequels. The 2nd part is more than half way done.

Loki gritted his teeth as he transported his small team of three. Ju’rrean, Alice and himself. He could see the goosebumps raise on Alice’s arms from where he held her hands. He tried hard not to roll his eyes, or look at her at all. 

Alice was human. How she made it this far was beyond him. But aside for his general dislike for Midgardians, she was specifically problematic. She wasn’t like any of the protectors of Earth. She was a flimsy mortal and without any combat training or abilities. 

Commander Siksarth was one of the reasons Loki hated this work. He hated reporting to someone. Hated being tethered to things like rules and orders. But it earned good money and it made stupid Thor gleam his puppy dog eyes at him when ever he visited New Asgard. So he begrudgingly obeyed, for now. 

This most recent assignment had him a hair trigger away from quitting. Not only did Siksarth place a Midgardian onto Loki’s team, but with specific orders. 

“You are to protect her life at all costs,” Siksarth told him. 

Loki opened his mouth in protest, “A fragile human being does not belong on this kind of mission! She’s going to get the rest of us killed, she...she is a liability!” 

Siksarth shook his head. “You do not understand. Her abilities of seeing the future are too valuable and she is Terran, well immersed in Terran culture. If anyone is to recognize something non-human it is her.” 

“You are aware that my current home base is on Terra,” Loki said. 

“Which is a good reason to send you as well. You will not argue on this anymore. I am not reassigning you, I am not reassigning Alice. The three of you will go to Terra and if Alice orders you to do something, you need to obey her immediately.” 

Loki’s head jerked up sharply, “What?!” he exclaimed. 

Siksarth leaned forward. “I am sharing this information with you, but you are not to speak of it to anyone else, not even Ju’rrean.” 

Loki stood stiff and tense and nodded his understanding. 

“Alice does have a special ability. She can see into the future. She can test out possibilities and see the results. She is an extremely valuable player and she is on your team and she is your backup, our secret ace that can change the world.” 

Loki gritted his teeth, “So she can see what choices others make. What I may or may not say to her. If she doesn’t like the results she can alter her answers. How can I trust anything she says if she is constantly changing her answers to manipulate me into a better response to her? This sounds dangerous to me. How has she gained this ability? Have you not considered the risks?” 

Siksarth leaned forward. “Enough, you will not question me on this.” 

“And what if I decide she isn’t worth the risk? There are others plenty capable of this work.” Loki reached into his pocket to fetch out the little badge that identified him as an S-Agent. 

“Put that away,” Siksarth growled, his sharp teeth showing. “You resign, after I’ve already given my orders I will put you down as a deserter. I’ll get those intergalactic warrants for your arrest back up. 

If he gritted his teeth any harder they would break. 

“Finish this assignment and you can resign, if that is what you desire. But you will follow these orders, or I will make life a living hel. Understood?” 

And that was the last of it.

Loki, Ju’rrean and Alice arrived in the forest behind the place of learning they were meant to infiltrate. 

“Uni, or university is what they call it,” Alice explained even as she wobbled on her legs as Loki snatched his hand from hers. 

“I’ll remember that, Ju’rrean said. Loki rolled his eyes. “Remember the plan. We go in, we find this Polly Mcpheely. We assess. And then we take her out.” 

“If she does end up being the Skrull Dharkath,” Alice added. 

Loki barely glanced at her. “She’s made too much noise.” 

“Abnormalities. But there are a lot of humans, genuine humans who do that. Siksarth said that humans are young compared to most species who have made it to space, but despite that, we are giving birth to grand geniuses everyday and we are progressing much faster-” 

“Enough,” Loki snapped. Alice fell silent. 

“Orders still stand,” Ju’rrean added into the silence. “We are to observe and prove first before we take action.” Her skin shifted then, human colors and short blond hair. “Let us find this Polly.” 

Loki nodded and in a shimmer of light changed his own clothing, probably for the last time. He couldn’t be caught doing such magics again, not out there with their eyes, mechanical and biological. It put the team at risk. Loki glanced at Alice. He wondered how many conversations they had held on this topic. She could go back and change anything, he wouldn’t know. The ability wasn’t magical in anyway that he could detect. He had wondered if she had had an accident with the Time stone before their demise. He glared at her, his resting face when it came to the human. 

Alice had changed her clothing on the ship. And as they left the forest they walked together onto the property of the little Midgardian’s place of learning. A cover story had already been put into place. Fake information sent ahead to automatically enroll the three of them. Everything went according to plan as Ju’rrean separated to go on to her own dorm room. 

Loki scowled as he realized that he and Alice were required to be roommates. He quickly looked away as blood rushed to her face, turning bright red. He walked swiftly away from her. How could she even be interested in someone like him? Didn’t she know what he was? She couldn’t even keep her own feelings off of her face!

Loki promptly ignored her as he made his way to...he shuddered...Their room. She watched him when she thought he wasn’t looking. As if he couldn’t see the way she looked at him. 

Surprisingly she didn’t linger. She was quick to leave after she unpacked her suitcase. Loki was happy to have her gone and before long he met up with Ju’rrean. When she asked about Alice Loki answered, “We continue without her if she can’t keep up.” 

“We were ordered to protect her,” Ju’rrean argued. 

“She is among her own kind here,” Loki said back. “We don’t need her. Just focus on finding Polly McPheely.” 

They separated and Loki followed the sheep as they got into the serving line for meals. He caught the reflection off Alice behind him. She was “looking” again. He would discourage her. He looked ahead and found a young man. He caught his eye. Loki smiled at the other man, moved fluidly towards him. The other man invited him to jump forward into the line and Loki accepted. He glanced back at Alice with a smug grin. 

He could see the sad look on her face and Loki smiled. He barely listened to the other as they got their meal and sat down. He hardly heard the words of the other man as they moved through the line. 

He did catch the eye of Ju’rrean from across the hall. She looked pointedly at Alice, who was deep in conversation. Oblivious and useless, Until, that is Loki realized that Alice was speaking with their target, Polly McPheely. 

Loki and Ju’rrean watched as long as they could be discrete as the two Midgardians conversed. Eventually they did have to part, so as to not draw attention to themselves. As far as he could tell, Alice was much too chatty to begin with. How could another listen to her for so long? Was this a sign of Polly McPheely being Skrull, or in fact, being human. He wasn’t sure and that just ticked him off royally. 

Loki attended the lectures he had been assigned to. He met with Ju’rrean, whom had been placed in the same lectures as the Target. But during break, when he met with her, she informed him that Polly had not been in class. Suspicious. 

The day ended without Loki seeing Alice, nor Polly again. A slight creep of concern was upon him. Had Polly killed Alice? 

But then she appeared, late into the evening. Loki had just finished showering. He was alone in his room when he went for a wash. When he stepped out, he wore nothing but the towel wrapped around his waist. His step faltered a little when he saw Alice sitting in her bed, cheeks their usual blush at the sight of him. It was growing deeper as she could see his bare skin. 

Loki had half the mind to cover himself with his arms. But he managed to resist, ignore her and go to his own wardrobe of clothing and change. 

“I don’t think Polly is a Skrull,” Alice told him, finally looking away. Loki said nothing. 

“We talked about a lot of things. She knows about Tardises.”

Loki glanced up at her. What the hel was a Tardis? 

“It's a fandom thing.” 

It was like she was speaking gibberish, the All-speak couldn’t even translate it. 

“Never mind,” Alice said. “Aliens tend not to care about such things. It is only stories that a few of the population know about, or care about. And it is all fictitious. And has no relevance to anything we do.” 

Loki looked away, refusing to nod or give her any sort of validation. Loki sat down on his bed, pulled out some of his own books in research. Earth was vastly different since the defeat of Thanos, let alone his own failed invasion. How could Alice like him after he did that? He killed her own people. Treated them all like ants. All the while his thoughts on Midgardians hadn’t raised much higher. Movement in his peripheral had his head jerking up. 

Alice had changed out of her clothes and something a bit more relaxed and loose fitting, but now she was leaving the room, a notebook in her hand and a small red fabric case in the other. 

“What are you doing?” he asked her. Suspicion flooded his mind. She had been alone with Polly for a long time. What if Alice was dead?

Alice turned back. “More observations are to be had. I told Polly I have an interest in art. She apparently has one too. We are going to look and critique each other's work as well test out different techniques.” 

Loki didn’t even have to ask. Alice opened up the little case to reveal various forms of writing material. There were even a pair of scissors and a couple of paint brushes. But, notably she did not open the sketch book. Loki gestured to it. And was it possible for her face to go redder?

“Just some stuff I’ve been playing with.” She showed him and honestly, Loki didn’t know what to make of it. Some of it seemed like a child’s drawing compared to the moving paintings of Asgard. Or rather, the Old Asgard. Some of the images were well done, considering the paper was so small and she didn’t have an ounce of magic. Another thought occurred to him. 

“When do you have the time to do this?” he asked, he couldn’t help the accusation in his tone. 

“I work on it, bit by bit whenever I get the chance,” Alice replied. 

“You are better served by learning combat skill. You are wasting your time with this and putting my team in danger because you would rather scribble than learn how to defend yourself?” 

Alice slammed the book shut. “What good is your training? It is my art that I get a second chance to observe our target. Which is why we are here to begin with!” She practically shouted. It threw Loki off. Alice was generally more submissive and a quiet type. Alice stomped away, slamming the door closed behind her as she left. 

There was a ball of discomfort in his belly. How many times had Odin, Thor or any one of his instructors said the same thing to him and his magic. He felt sick. And between the two well trained warrior spies, Alice was the one who managed to get closest to the Target. 

Loki and Ju’rrean followed into the common room and pretended to study together as they kept an eye on Alice and Polly. And even though Alice weaved Skrull patterns into her artwork, Polly didn’t directly ignore them as a Skrull in disguise might do to hide who she was. Instead Polly found an interest in them and wanted to use them in her own pieces. She drew and scribbled like a child learning script, rather than one well versed in the matter. 

Loki sighed. Alice was right, Polly was not a Skrull. Begrudgingly, Loki sent the code back to Siksarth, Polly was not the correct target. 

Siksarth responded again that same evening. Though it was well into the night. Polly was still in deep conversation with Alice. They drank Midgardian’s drinks to keep awake. And Alice slipped a drug into Polly’s. It was harmless to humans but Skrulls reacted poorly. No result. The final proof. Siksarth's response had them resting for the evening and then relocating early in the morning. They were to prepare, Siksarth was coming himself.

At dawn Loki and Ju’rrean went to the next coordinates. Alice had not returned to their room by then. Loki had no intention of wasting time hunting her down. Ju’rrean didn’t argue with him, even though he could tell she wanted to. They went on without her. 

The new location was to be the new base for further instructions and planning with Siksarth. It was a cottage in the county. Alice would never catch up with them. Finally she was gone. Loki knew what he would tell Siksarth and the responsibility would fall on Alice’s shoulders, not his own. And Loki would find new work, probably. Loki had prepared his resignation letter. 

The cottage was...clearly Midgardian and too domestic for him. Siksarth sent the message that food had been delivered. Ju’rrean could barely keep her own excitement down as she reached for the Xandarian eggs out of the refrigerator. “A delicacy, so rare!” Ju’rrean told him as she dished herself a serving for herself and for him. 

Loki was hesitant. Of course he heard of them. He cringed a little at the memory of them once being served on Asgard a lifetime ago. The Asgardians in general tended to dislike them. But Loki, as a small child he had loved the taste and crunch. He pushed the memories away and went ahead and ate the serving Ju’rrean had given him. 

Siksarth told them to relax for a while, a little reprieve before their next mission. He didn’t say anything about Alice. So they took their ease, aware that Siksarth would arrive sometime around midmorning. 

But when that time arrived; in through the front door came not Commander Siksarth, but Alice. Loki and Ju’rrean were on their second servings of the eggs. He didn’t say anything to her, only ate the food. Though he could tell she was hungry. But there wasn’t any left for her. Not that it mattered, humans tended to hate Xandarian eggs. 

“So Polly isn’t a Skrull…” she said. 

“We are aware,” Loki replied. Alice closed her mouth and took a step back. Siksarth must have contacted her. Loki glanced Ju’rrean, she was not looking back. Maybe she contacted him behind Loki’s back. 

“Sorry that I’m-,” late Loki expected her to finish that sentence. But she did not finish it as the door opened again and then Siksarth was here. Alice took a step back. Behind the commander followed several Skrulls in their armor. 

“Now to business,” Siksarth said. He lifted up his hand, a device, like a remote, in his hand. He pressed it. 

Loki could barely process what was happening. There was this pain from his belly. The eggs turned sour and burned. Burned through him. It felt almost like an obedience disc was inside of him. Loki yelped before crumpling to the ground. He trembled as the pain radiated to every part of his body. His magic, in an instant, was cut off from him. He heard Ju’rrean cry and fall next to him. But he saw Alice clutch her stomach and fall as well. 

Siksarth paced around them as he transformed. Loki was slow to realize, with the pain tearing him apart. This was not Siksarth, but Dharkath. Last anyone had seen of him, he had taken the form of a college student, named Polly McPheely. Siksarth had not sent them here. Nor with delectables. This...was a trap and some sort of nanite technology put into the food, to trap them. 

The pain eased from his belly, enough that he could actually hear the villain’s words. He tried to move, but it sent a shock of pain through him. He couldn’t move, none of them could move. 

“If you consider working for me, I will give you anything you desire,” Dharkath was saying. The usual lies to bribe anyone every villain has used on the opposer. Loki would not succumb to such lies. His time with Thanos made him quite resistant to such things. Ju’rrean had a family in hiding on Earth, she wouldn’t risk them. And Alice…

Loki looked at her. She hadn’t had any of the eggs. What was she doing? 

“I could make you powerful,” Dharkath was still rambling on. 

Alice’s face screwed up in pain as she made a sound. “Me,” she said. 

“Oh?” Dharkath asked as a button was flipped on the remote and Alice shakily got to her feet. 

“I am nothing but a Terran. Less than one. I have no one, no friends, no family. I was only ever chosen for this team because of my knowledge, not for any power, strength or ability. My own team mates have tried to sabotage everything I’ve worked for. But you promise a position in power? I will happily and eagerly take it.” 

Dharkath smiled. “Glad to have you aboard.” 

Icy fear spread in his veins as he realized he had very little idea of what she was saying was true or not. She didn’t tell Dharkath about her real power. Loki couldn’t be sure if that was because she had a plan for betraying him, or just for her own self-preservation. But Loki did not really know much about Alice apart from her lusting after him every time he was near. And the other things she said, there was plenty of evidence of his mistreatment of the Midgardian. Was this her revenge for such...trivial things? 

“We have a guest coming. He is of great power that he will lend to our cause. We want to make a good impression. Choose one of these to prepare the food and then you may speak with Enrryol, the more we know about Earth the easier this invasion will be.” 

Alice looked back at him and Ju’rrean. “Loki has been particularly cruel to me, I would enjoy a little bit of payback,” Alice told Dharkath. Loki shuddered. 

“He’s yours,” Dharkath responded with another flick of his fingers. 

Immediately Loki began to breathe easier, the pain left completely. But his magic would not answer his call, for nothing. 

“Warning, Jotun,” Dharkath told him before he could barely get to his knees. “The eggs in your belly have been infused with nanite technology. They’ve latched to the lining of your stomach. You attempt to disobey any order given to you by…” he turned and glanced at Alice. 

“My name is Alice,” she told him. 

“You attempt to disobey any order given to you by Alice and the nanites will drop you and punish you until she thinks you have learned your lesson...understand?” 

Loki gritted his teeth and nodded. 

“Good boy,” Dharkath said, patting his cheek. The fear mingled with hatred as a dozen ways to rid himself of the tech flooded his mind. Acid, a knife digging it out. Access to his Jotun form would freeze them. 

“Come, Loki,” Alice commanded and Loki flinched at the feeling shifting within him. An edge of pain, close and debilitating if he didn’t respond quickly. 

Alice went into the kitchen with Loki close behind. She turned to face him and he could barely even look at her, he was so enraged. 

Alice opened her mouth to speak, but before she could one of Dharkath’s men followed in as well. Alice froze. 

“I’ve heard he likes Xandarian Eggs,” the lackey said. “We brought some more, unaltered of course, we wouldn’t want an Elder to discover that little trick. So, what is on the menu?” He was a short man, with toad-like appendages. 

“Well, Loki here has been a Prince, he knows what good food looks and tastes like. He is also a purveyor of potions and spells, which equates to basically cooking. I expect he can make something delicious.” 

Loki was barely hearing her. An Elder? But he didn’t dare speak, Dharkath was just in the room over. Instead, with shaking hands he began to prepare the aforementioned dishes. 

“Are you sure you are doing that right?” the toad man asked. “Perhaps he needs a little motivation,” the toad man revealed that he held one of the devices also.

“So,” Alice said, distracting the toadman from his question. “You said an Elder, what do you mean…? Like the Grandmaster?” 

Loki froze at her words and glanced in horror at her. How? How did she know of him? 

“You got it, yeah, it’s him who is coming. General here knows how much he likes unique things,” Toad man tugged on several strands of Loki’s hair and he had to fight the bile back down. “This little Prince here will make for a very good bargaining chip.” 

Alice seemed to be speechless for a moment. Loki wondered if she was jealous. He wondered if she would use her new found power over him. Perhaps a fuck before he was sold off to that madman. Loki could see her thinking about something. And that possessive look she gave him as her gaze swept her body. 

“Oh, well, um, that’s good, to have someone so powerful on our side,” Alice told the toad man, stumbling over her words. She kept looking at him, but Loki couldn’t look at her. His fingers were like numb as he began to aimlessly add ingredients together. 

Loki’s short time on Sakaar on the outside had looked like he was just taking advantage of all the luxury and attention. But there were reasons he had planned for the Grandmaster's demise. Loki never had the misfortune to suffer an obedience disc. But the Grandmaster didn’t need one to control him. It was the tedious mind games coupled with pleasure and pain and one hair out of line meant permanent slavery. But now Dharkath was to hand him over, controlled and broken to that madman on a silver platter. It didn’t matter if Alice was pretending to join Dharkath or not, there was nothing she could do to stop the Grandmaster from coming and taking him. 

Even though Alice wore a look of wanting to tell him something alone, the occasion never arose. She did have a moment alone with toad man and Loki hated the way she seduced the creetin with gentle touches and a kiss. Disgusting. 

Alice was pulled away by someone else not long after that and Loki was left alone with the toadman. He couldn’t keep his sticky fingers to himself as he sampled and ruined dish after dish. Loki worked tirelessly until the light outside went out. In the dark of the night Loki was shoved into the basement of the cottage, in the dark, alone. His last contact with anyone left him trembling.

He trembled, foolishly, like it could change anything. His stupid mind kept drifting back to the void. It was over, all over. He could do nothing as the last order bound his power within him and his freewill trapped. He was not to leave the basement, he was to do nothing. And if he tried, the pain would tear him apart. How could everything have gone so wrong? 

Alice was with them, sharing all of their secrets preparing for the end of humanity. Her own kind. Loki shook his head, had he not done the same thing in a mad grasp for power when he was young? 

“Loki,” came a whispered voice moonlight dripped into view with a low creaking sound. A door to the outside Loki hadn’t noticed as his dark thoughts nearly consumed him. It opened and in came Alice. 

Loki jerked away from her. He had loathed her because of the potential power she had held over him, now he feared her as she held absolute power over him. 

“Ju’rrean is safe,” Alice told him. “Now we need to go back to Commander Siksarth.” 

“Is that an order?” Loki sneered. “Will you have me slay him for you?” 

Alice frowned. “Yes, it is an order,” Alice answered sharply. He flinched when she grabbed his arm. “Take us to him now.” 

The door on his magic flew open and pain in his belly grew until he answered the call and teleported them back to the spacecraft. 

“Good work,” Siksarth told Alice and Loki as they stood there in his personal office. “We’ll take it from here. The man shook Alice’s hand. “Can you handle it from here?” he asked her, while Loki just stood there. He had opened his mouth to explain things, but Alice had already answered with a quick, “yes, sir,” and Siksarth was gone. 

Loki pulled away from Alice. “What is this?” 

“Hang on. This will hurt a little,” Alice told him as she fumbled for something out of her pocket. 

Loki jerked further away at her words. But then he froze as he looked at the device in her hands. The same one that toadman had. His hands came up half in defence and half to plead with her and hating himself all the while for the thought.

“It’ll make you sick,” Alice told him as she reached around for a rubbish metal bin sitting next to Siksarth’s desk. She put it down in front of him. 

“What are you doing?” Loki asked her. 

“Getting rid of the nanites,” she told him as she pressed a button on it. 

Loki fell to his knees as the pain was back. It radiated from his belly as he gagged and vomited into the bucket. Bile and blood dripped from his lips as everything burned. He felt something within him tear as he heaved again and again. 

He didn’t know how long it lasted, but eventually his stomach felt empty and sore. He looked up at Alice who handed him a towel. He wiped his lips with it and then she was handing him something else, a blessed bottle of water. Loki sat back, exhausted and began to drink. He flexed his seidr. It was smooth and responsive. The thing in him was gone. 

“So it was an act,” Loki said. 

“Of course it was,” Alice responded. She was sitting on the floor with him, though further away. 

“You dropped, just as if you had eaten those damn eggs.” 

“It was the only one that worked.” 

Loki glanced at her. “You used your power on Dharkath.” 

“Of course I did, I had to do something. I couldn’t just let him win-wait,” Alice paused. “You didn’t think I’d actually fall for that ‘you’ll get power if you join me’ thing did you?” 

Loki didn’t say anything. 

“I knew you hated me, but I didn’t think you thought of Midgardians that badly.” 

Loki sucked in a breath of air, not wanting to do this now, but the words seemed to burst from his entire being, “How could I not hate you? When I knew that at any point you could decide you didn’t like my answers or responses and simply use your power to manipulate me.

“What?” 

“I don’t like anyone manipulating me.” 

“Well that is clear as day. No one likes being manipulated,” she argued back. “But you thought I would actually do that to a team member?” 

“I see how you look at me, how you lust after my body. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Alice asked, her voice raised and her face red. 

“You want me and you have a power that lets you redo any interaction. What have you made me tell you?” 

“Nothing!” Alice shouted, she was on her feet. “I haven’t used my power on you. Not even once. I wouldn’t do that, I care way too much about you to violate you in that way.” 

“How can I trust anything you say, knowing that if you didn’t like an outcome you could just redo it again?” 

“Because….because,” she tried, but could come up with nothing. 

Loki gave her a smug smile full of teeth. “You can’t even deny it, there is no evidence.” 

“Because I love and respect you too much to violate you in that way.” 

“Pfft,” Loki snorted at her. “How could you feel any of that, you don’t even know me, why do you even care? Is it just my body, I’m a pretty thing for you to look at?” 

“Because I know what it is like to live in a world where you don’t exist,” Alice told him. 

He paused at that and turned and looked at her now. “What?” 

“My power allows me to manipulate a small piece of space and time. But it has done something to me. When I dream it is like I am in a completely different place and everything here, with the Skrulls, what happened with what Thanos did. Ending half of all life all of it is just stories, just pretend. And you can just call them dreams and a bag of what-ifs. But I believe I am witness to alternative time-lines and dimensions. And I can do nothing to change anything. 

It is a miracle that I somehow ended up in the time-line where you survive the wrath of Thanos. It is a miracle that I got to meet you at all. And no matter how much you hate me, or dismiss me, it will never be less than an honor to be near you.” 

They both became silent then. How the hel was he supposed to react to that? His stomach turned as he realized that Alice had tears running down her cheeks. 

“Are you sure they aren’t just dreams?” Loki asked her. “A Midgardian having a power like that, to actually see other timelines? That is pretty impossible.” 

Alice frowned. “I’ve seen a lot of possibilities. But because of them. I mean when the snap happened I was gone, just dust. Before it I was normal, but when I came back I had this power. And when I slept I saw things, so many things. I started to research it and I started asking people about it. And then I found out that I knew secrets that I should not have known. That I had learned from my dreams.” 

There was so much, too much information that Alice was spouting, barely made sense. But with that last part...His skin was covered in gooseflesh. “What secrets?” 

“Everyone,” Alice told him, shivering. “All of the Avengers, Thanos, various ‘children’ of his. I dreamed about the Asgardians, Thor, the Guardians of the Galaxy...you.” 

Loki looked up at her, His skin was covered in bumps as she spoke. “What of me?” 

Alice bit her lips. 

“Tell me,” Loki demanded. 

“I dreamed of things that haven’t been proved yet. Some of the things did not come to be. Maybe they were just dreams, or maybe some of the things were from alternative timelines.” 

“Tell me,” Loki demanded again, this time his voice was soft. 

“You let go at the Bifrost,” Alice whispered. “Thanos found you and controlled you through the invasion of my planet. Your failure was your intention, your only act of defiance.” 

Loki shuddered and felt sick again. 

“I know that you let the Jotun into Asgard with the intention of proving yourself worthy,” Alice added. 

Loki started to shiver and found that he couldn’t stop. He shook his head. 

“You took the Tesseract from Odin’s vault to try and keep it from Thanos’s possession. You knew that Surtur couldn’t destroy it and it would just be floating out in space for Thanos to take.” 

“Stop,” Loki said, his voice hoarse. 

“You didn’t tell Thor because you knew how he would react. He would have wanted to use it, make yourselves a big bright beacon by using it.” 

“Stop,” Loki said again. But she didn't; she just kept on speaking his secrets, tearing him apart.

“I know about what the Grandmaster did to you on Sakaar,” Alice told him. 

“No!” Loki shouted. On his feet now, though his legs wobbled and wetness dripping down his cheeks. 

“I know how much you hate yourself,” Alice continued. “You loathe your own skin more than you hate me for having power over you, don’t you?” 

Loki couldn’t stop shaking. He hated her for this, for each secret she exposed. But there was something inside of him that didn’t want her to stop speaking. Secrets one can share with no one is such a lonely existence. 

“The dreams never gave me a good look. But what I saw was an ethereal creature. Something beautiful and amazing. I don’t think you are a monster. I don’t think you are weak. I never used my power on you because my dreams have stolen your secrets from you and that is just something I cannot control. So even if you hate me and never want to see me again. I understand. I never came on to you because you are way out of my league. And I’m just a Midgardian and you have better things to do. 

I uh already gave my report to Siksarth. I think you figured out the gist of it. I got the remote from the guy in the kitchen. I was able to sneak off to find Ju’rrean. I got the nanites out of her and we were able to take out that guy in the kitchen. I do not remember his name… Ju’rrean is currently masquerading as him. Siksarth has informed the Avengers and I think Captain Marvel is even involved.” 

“The Grandmaster?” Loki asked her, he felt flayed. As if all the skin was gone from him. He was open and exposed, exactly what he feared from the Midgardian. 

Siksarth has him distracted. One thing about the Grandmaster, he is easily distracted.” 

Loki shuddered again. 

“I’ll...um...leave you alone.” She turned to go, but Loki jerked himself forward, grabbing Alice’s arm, stopping her. She froze. 

“You won’t tell anyone.” It wasn’t a question. 

Alice gave a sad smile. “You’re the first person I’ve told.” He let her go and she walked away. 

Loki went to his allotted room for when he was on the spacecraft. He sat down onto his bed. 

He did not sleep.


End file.
